I don't need no light to see you SHINE

36

TWs: Near-death experience, confrontation, out-of-body experience, longing/yearning for a past love, mentioned past death/destruction of celestial objects. Stay safe :)

It was so quiet that you could hear the Sun's low hissing, his plasma starting to boil as the words left Neptune's mouth.

"You dare blame me...!? " The Sun stood tall as he reached behind him. Nibiru only has himself to blame!"

There was a spark of light as the Sun summoned his whip.

"Neptune!" The Giants yelled as most of the Rockies backed away, huddling in formation around the Earth, who was still unconscious.

Venus felt a sudden loss of gravity, his eyes darting to where Mercury should've been. His eyes were panicked as he lifted his gaze, spotting the smallest Celestial flying toward the Sun.

"What the hell is he doing!?" Venus scowled.

Mercury unsheathed his wand before the whip struck down, bringing it forward.

TZZT!

The whip's movements faltered as the Sun felt a pinch in his wrist, nearly making him drop his weapon. Peering over, he noticed a green energy surrounding the base of his wrist.

"Ow..." He uttered and tried to strike down again, only to realize he couldn't. He tried again, yet his wrist wouldn't move. He snarled, glaring down at the smallest Celestial, "What is the meaning of this, Hermes...?"

"Communication is important, Helios!" Mercury exclaimed, furrowing his eyebrows, "You, of all Celestials, should know that!"

"Heh- hahah!" Sun couldn't help but laugh, "This isn't like you, Mercury... what made you brave so suddenly?"

"Oh, I don't know... maybe when my best friend tried to destroy his own planet!?" Mercury gestured to Neptune, who blinked lizardly.

The Sun's eyes widened as he gazed at the small Celestial, his smile twitching into a frown, "B-Best...?"

Hesitantly, he let go of the whip, hearing it dissipating into thousands of particles the moment he released it.

The Star blinked, shaking his head, "I'm... uh, I don't know what came over me." He raised his free hand, covering half of his face before moving to sweep through his long flowing hair, "What were you saying, Mercury?"

"Actually-"

"I wanted to talk to you!" Neptune moved Mercury out of the way, his hand raised as if they were in a classroom, "It's about Nine!"

The other Celestials looked on at the scene incredulously.

"Are we gonna ignore what just happened, or...?" Venus trailed off, quirking an eyebrow.

"It looks that way." Mars shrugged.

"Oh, right..." Sun's eyes barely met Neptune's, "He was banished."

"What for?"

"Didn't he tell you? He destroyed Earth's life as well as one of Saturn's moons."

Neptune's mouth opened in partial shock, yet he found the scenarios oddly familiar. He looked down, contemplating. After a few moments, he shook his head, "Even so, it's not justified."

"Pardon...?" The Sun's eyes twitched upon hearing the blue Celestial's words.

"It happened eons ago," Neptune crossed his arms, "Since after the Stars attacked, Nine has been trying to prove himself, yet you all are making it difficult, especially Saturn and Jupiter."